Abe Kosoff: Dean of Numismatics

"The way I handled it was this: I would acknowledge the wire, advise that buy bids went not being accepted, and I would suggest that would enter bids per the duplicate of the bid sheet which I was enclosing for his consideration. If he had any changes or suggestions to make, these were, solicited. If no change or suggestion was made, I would assume that my suggested bids went approved. In order that no lengthy correspondent would result, the suggested bids were usually three times the estimated value. This left plenty of room and proved to be an effective manner of handling the king's bids.

"I am sure that many a collector was more than annoyed to learn that, despite his buy bids, he did not get any lots awarded to him. In fact, when the list of prices realized was published I include an unprecedented statement explaining what had happened and setting a new policy, declining to accept any buy or unlimited bids in any of my future sales.

"I wish I could have handled each of the many buy bidders as I was able to do with one in particular. A good friend and client, Charlie Boos who lived in Ohio, happened to be on the Wes Coast on business. He had taken the catalogue with him, and he wired his bids to my office in New York City. Charlie bid on 27 lots, all choice Buffalo nickels. He gave me an unlimited or buy bid for each lot.

"Now let me tell you how I handled each sheet as it arrived in the mail. The sheet was assigned a bid number, and this number depended upon the time of receipt. The first bid sheet received was of course, No. I, the next 2 and so on. This number was used to enter bids in the bid book where the number and the amount of bid in the particular section is registered for each lot. This permitted us to compare bids on each lot and b select the highest bidder and also to note the second highest bidder as well.

"The starting bid, on behalf of the highest bidder, was based on a 5 % increase over the second highest bid. This procedure also permitted us to note duplicate bids on a particular lot. In that event, the bidder whose bid sheet was received first, and consequently who obtained the lower number, received the preference. Thus, it becomes obvious that the fellow who bids 'buy' wasn't absolutely sure he would get the lot. Someone else may have sneaked in with a previous buy bid.

The first coin illustrations to appear in an Abe Kosoff auction catalogue are shown above, a plate from the Michael S. Higgy Collection Sale catalogue, September 1943.

'Well, back to Charlie Boos. On the day of the sale another wire came from Boos, asking me to wire the results to him, advising how much his bill came to and to hold the coins because he was on his way to New York City. He would arrive there in two weeks. As I recall, he was on his way to Persia representing the company which employed him. Following the close of the sale, I wired Charlie, 'Sorry, no awards. Will explain when you get here.' Well, when Boos arrived in New York, 'Abe,' he said, 'if you and I weren't friends, I wouldn't stop in here for a second. I have cussed you across the country. I wanted those coins badly.'

"Well, I was glad that Boos stopped in. I took out the packages of bid sheets and found Charlie's wire. It was numbered about 357, and I explained the procedure as I have just outlined it. 'Now, let's take a look at the bid book. Here's the first lot on which you bid. Here is your number, and it is marked 'buy.' See how many buy bids were entered for that same lot? Now, the only fair thing is to give preference to the bidder who got his buy bid in first. Yours was not. Now, let's go on to the next lot in which you were interested ... ' Charlie got the picture. 'I never would have believed it. I am glad I stopped in. I knew you must have some good explanation, but to give you unlimited bids on 27 lots and not to get one coin! That's difficult to comprehend.'

'The best I could do with the other buy bidders was to write to them and try to explain what happened and to indicate that this forced us to change our policy and that henceforth no buy bids would be accepted.